Managed to get away from the hotel just after 9am and back across the Bay Bridge towards Fairfield where the Jelly Belly Jellybean factory is located. The factory tour was fun (even though we've done it before) with a yummy packet of chocolate covered peppermint jellybeans at the end – and some tasty samples on the tour. After a drive through wine country (we even spotted some sheep & cows) on some back roads, we stopped in Petaluma for a takeaway lunch at Lucchesi’s Deli. A balmy 17 degrees today with blue skies and almost no wind – so much for the winter temperatures we were expecting – guess they’re still to come!

Stopped to fill up at a Shell gas station and Josh was delighted to buy an1.3 litre cup to fill with fizzy drink for $.96! Fred and I got two 16oz coffees for $2.98.

Heading towards dusk we reached the 'Avenue of Giants’ highway which goes through the Humbolt State park – a scenic drive through amazing groves of giant redwood trees

. We stopped and took some photos, even though it really was too dark. There is an incredible sense of peace standing among these towering trunks, we were lucky, no cars drove by while we were there and it was almost silent. Truly impressive, I hope we get to see some more tomorrow when we drive through the Redwood national park.

Not too long a drive till we reached the little town of Ferndale, CA which was a very pretty Victorian town all lit up with Christmas lights and a massive tree covered in lights that we could see from miles away as we approached the town. We drove around admiring the Victorian style houses and then only a short drive back to Fortuna, CA to our Comfort Inn & Suites hotel. An easy KFC for dinner.